This invention relates to hydraulic control line connections and in particular to remote connections for subsea use.
In offshore drilling and production operations, a plurality of tool and valve actuators are relatively permanently installed at or below the wellhead. These are hydraulically operated and require hydraulic control lines to be connected so that the operations may be controlled from the surface. It is, therefore, necessary to have a means for connecting a plurality of control lines to the wellhead with retrievable equipment and preferably in a manner which does not require diver assistance.
Such connections have generally been made with either a pin-type stab connection or a packer-type stab connection. In the pin-type stab connection one pin is used for each hydraulic connection so that a plurality of pins must be stabbed simultaneously. These arrangements have difficulty in connecting or disconnecting with even slight angular misalignments and are difficult to unlock rapidly in an emergency. These arrangements are very expensive and require large forces to energize the seals.
In the stringer arrangement it is difficult to provide substantial sealing forces, and there tends to be a sliding of the seals as they are connected, thereby deteriorating the sealing surfaces.